Clippers’ durable DeAndre Jordan ‘deserved’ rest day, Doc Rivers says

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Before Thursday's mandatory rest night, Clippers center DeAndre Jordan had not missed a regular-season game since March 31 of last season. Before last season, when he missed five games, he played in every game for four straight seasons, a 360-game streak that ended last January. At the time, that was the longest active streak in the NBA. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Before Thursday's mandatory rest night, Clippers center DeAndre Jordan had not missed a regular-season game since March 31 of last season. Before last season, when he missed five games, he played in every game for four straight seasons, a 360-game streak that ended last January. At the time, that was the longest active streak in the NBA. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

DENVER – For the first time in nearly a year, DeAndre Jordan missed a game.

In a season defined by Blake Griffin’s knee surgery and a ligament tear in Chris Paul’s thumb, Jordan has been the Clippers’ most durable player – as usual.

But when the Clippers’ plane left Los Angeles late Wednesday, two seats were noticeably empty: those belonging to Griffin and Jordan.

It was really no surprise. Coach Doc Rivers has said he intended to rest players this month, and Jordan, who was the lone player who appeared in each of the team’s first 68 games, needed it more than anyone

“D.J. was definite,” Rivers said, “and then Blake was the secondary one.”

In an age when teams bound for the playoffs strategically rest stars, Rivers said the Clippers will also leave at least two players behind when they travel to Dallas for a one-game trip next week.

Both Jordan and Griffin said Wednesday night that they would have preferred to make the trip and play in Denver. However, Jordan said he understood the decision, made by Rivers after he heard from the Clippers’ team of sports scientists.

“I think it can help us recovery-wise,” Jordan said. “I know for myself and – I think I can speak for Blake, too, we want to be out there every game that we’re healthy. We want to be out there helping our team getting better as a unit and just being able to get better as a whole.”

Said Griffin, who turned 28 on Thursday: “At the end of the day, you do what is best for the team – or what the team thinks is best for the team. It’s kind of out of our hands a little bit.”

Jordan had not missed a regular-season game since March 31 of last season. Before last season, when he missed five games, the center played in every game for four straight seasons, a 360-game streak that ended last January. At the time, that was the longest active streak in the NBA.

Jordan is averaging 12.5 points and 13.5 rebounds this season and was a first-time All-Star. It was a long-awaited achievement for Jordan, but one that also meant he worked on a long weekend typically reserved for relaxation and recovery.

Jordan’s schedule intensified earlier in March. After the Clippers beat Memphis on March 9, Jordan flew home to Memphis for a funeral following a death in his family, and rejoined the Clippers in L.A. the next day for a game against Philadelphia.

“He’s done more travel than (the rest of the team) this last two weeks,” Rivers said, “which is almost impossible. So he’s the one. He definitely needed the day off.”

CP3-POINTERS

Chris Paul insists there is no rhyme or reason to why he has been more aggressive offensively this season. Each game, he has said, takes on a personality of its own.

Entering Thursday, however, Paul was averaging career highs in 3-pointers made, attempted and shooting a career-best 42.1 percent from behind the arc.

And Rivers thinks he knows why.

“It’s easier,” he said, chuckling.

It’s not entirely a joke, though. With teams devising complicated and aggressive defensive schemes to disrupt the pick-and-roll, Paul’s bread and butter, opportunities open up for perimeter shots.

“You can see in games he still passes some up if it’s early in the clock,” Rivers said. “I always get on him about those. I don’t think you can get a better shot. But if it’s early, he’s such a point guard, he’s thinking, ‘Let me run the offense.’ And I always say we’re running it toward you right now and we want you to shoot it.”

Bill Oram covers the Los Angeles Lakers for the Southern California News Group. He covered the Utah Jazz for the Salt Lake Tribune. He is the (usually) bearded guy in the background wearing a University of Montana hat.